DOING GOOD DOING WELL CONFERENCE
IESE 2011
How can International
FinancialInstitutionssupportmicrosavi
ngs?
Guadalupe de la Mata

WhyIFIsprovidemainlycredit?
Easier to justify from economic development and poverty
alleviation perspective>Providing credit has been regarded
as having most direct link to increasing incomes
Incentives in many funding agencies are skewed toward
financing credit
Potentially risky business and requires specific
expertise, institutional capacity and long term
commitment

WHY Renewed interest among
funders?
• CRISIS have raised:
– Concerns about over lending and over-indebtedness
– The impact of economic recession on the poor
– Criticism of microcredit
• These factors have shown:
– Importance of savings for poor people’s economic well
being and
– that deposits are potentially a stable source of funds
for FI
– Demand is there but supply is scarce

1. Savings can help people deal with 3
barriers to escaping poverty
Smooth their volatile income streams and ACCUMULATE
funds to eat regularly, invest in education and reduce
financial stress
PROVIDE A CUSHION AGAINST COMMON SHOCKS
(ILLNESS, DEATH, CROP FAILURE…)
SAVINGS can be used to INVEST IN NEW TOOLS AND
BUSINESS TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY (SELF FINANCE)

2. Savings have a positive effect on the
financial system as a whole
Strengthening local financial
intermediaries
• Stable funding source
• Reduce risk of forex losses
• Strengthen institutional stability, especially
in times of economic crisis

3.Demand for savings is high but
supply scarce
DEMAND/ When made available
• Impressive growth in the number of savers
achieved by leading deposit taking institutions over
the last decade
Supply SCARCE due to:
• Institutional level constraints
• Inadequate infrastructure
• Regulatory barriers

What can IFIs do
tosupportmicrosavings? Fourproposals
ENCOURAGE DEMAND for Savings products and
Services
Extending the Reach and SOUND RETAIL PROVIDERS
Strengthening MARKET INFRASTRUCTURE for Savings
Services
Supporting SOUND POLICY

1. Encouragedemand
Key lessons to encourage demand
• The poor already save in many informal ways
• Poor people save with formal institutions
when their services are close by and
appropriate- accepting very small and varied
deposit amounts
• Policy makers and financian institutions may
not always understand the importantance of
savings for poor clients

1.Encourage demand (II)
What can donors do to encourage demand ?
• Promote and encourage an UNDERSTANDING of
the IMPORTANCE OF SAVINGS SERVICES FOR POOR
PEOPLE
• Promote MARKET STUDIES aimed at
QUANTIFIYING AND BETTER UNDERSTANDING
client demand
• Support programs that promote CONSUMER
AWARENESS and FINANCIAL CAPABILITIES OF THE
POOR.

2. ExtendingtheReach of
SoundRetailproviders
Key lessons
• Different kinds of institutions are needed to improve
access to savings. Different providers serve different
market segments and client needs
• Managing deposit services for the poor requires greater
institutional capacity than credit only services
• The decision on wheather to support a particular
institution should focus on:
• Management commitment to savings mobilisation and
• Institution´s capacity for safe and sound deposit
operations or its ability to build that capacity

2. Extendingthereach of
soundretailproviders
Guidance for funders
• Support CAPACITY BUILDING and the up-front
investment costs of introducing or scaling up savings
services and use performance based funding
• Explore other, NON-TRADITIONAL SERVICE
PROVIDERS (such as telecommunication companies)
that may partner with FI to extend their reach and
product range
• Focus support on the type of instutions that match
funders´ internal capacity and expertise

2. Extendingthereach of
SoundRetailproviders
1. Informal Communitymanagedsavingsgroups
2. CreditUnions and otherfinancialcooperatives
3. TransformingMFIs
4. SpecialisedMicrofinance Banks and Greenfields
5. Savings and Postal banks
6. Mainstreamcommercialbanks

Types of ServiceProviders Advantages Challenges
Savingsgroups -Servepoorclients , -Limitedproductsoffering
primarilywomen -
-Operate in remote rural Limitedmanagerialcapacity
areas -
-Easlly replicable Savingsmethodslimitassetb
- uilding
Profitsdistributedtomembe -Risk of exclusion of
rs poorerindividuals
-Build social capital and -Risk of theft of savings
selfesteem
CreditUnion and -Inherentsavingsled -Governancechallenges
otherFinancialCooperative -Simple affordableprodcuts -Findingtherigh balance
s -Of ten located in betweenborrowers and
remoteregionsaccessibleby saversinterests
thepoor -Risk of caputure
-Lowtransaction and
financialcosts

Advantages Challenges
Transforming -Knowledge of poorclients -
MFIs -Social Inadequateinstitutionalcapacityf
missionoftenorientedtoservepoor orsavings
and marginalisedcommunities -Highcosts of transformation
-Increaisngly more interested in -Creditledculture
usingdepositstodiversifyfundingsou -Lack of
rces accesstopaymentsystems
Specialisedmi -Adequateskills and expertise -Requiresignificant subsidies
crofinanceba -Set up as deposittakinginstitutions initally
nks and , no transformationrequired -
greenfields -Broadrange of products Knowledgegainednotsharedbeyo
ndnetwork/
holidngforproprietaryreasons
-Oftennotreachingclients in
remoteaeas
-Limitedbranchnetwork

Advantages Challenges
Savings and - -Governance and
postal banks Extensivebranchnetworkthatoftenp managementchallenges
enetrate rural markets -Bureaucraticculture
-Preexistinginfraestructure can -
allowforlowtransactioncosts Oftenrequiresignificantinstitutio
-Usuallyperceivedtobesave and nalreform
secure -Limitedproductrange
Poorcustomerservice
Mainstream -Broadrange of products and -
Commercial services Corporateculturenotorientedtol
Banks -Modernbranchinfrastructure owincomemarkets
-Largenetwork of branches -LimitedincenTivesto target poor
-Linkagestopaymentsystem and remoteclients
-Abilitytocross-subsidisesmall -Exitingproductsoften do
balance notmeettheneeds of tehpoor
accountswithexistinghighvolumeop -Lack of lowcostdeliverychannels
erations -Operatemostly in urbanareas
-
Saferthanotherinstitutionsifproperly
regulated and supervised

3. Strengthening MARKET
INFRASTRUCTURE
KEY lessons
• Support market infrastrure goes beyond
microfinance and it is important to take a BROAD
FINANCIAL SECTOR PERSPECTIVE when
supporting initiatives at this level
• In country trainers and technical advisory
services for savings mobilisation are usually
quite limited
• Access to payment services can affect an
institution´s ability to attract deposits

3.
StrenghtheningMarketInfrastructureforSavi
ngsService
Guidance for funders
• Training support and capacity building for service
providers to increase their experience and expertise
to support savings services
• Support initiatives that increase access of financial
providers to Payment systems and money markets
(facilitating communication among stakeholders)
• When supporting Deposit insurance, funders should
apply good practice features and have access to
adequate expertise

4. Supportingsoundpolicyenvironments
Key lessons
• Prudential regulation and supervision is required for
institutions mobilising savings (Except for small,
community based intermediaries too tiny or remote
to supervise effectivily)
• Capacity of regulators and supervisors is often the
main bottleneck
• There is no one-size fits all regulatory or supervisory
solution. Each country should establish one taking
into account its priorities and capacity constraints

4.
SupportingSoundPolicyEnvironments.
Guidance for funders
• Support policy and regulatory environments that balance
and increase
• access,
• financial stability and
• protection of savings
• Capacity builiding of regulatory and supervisory bodies
• There is no one size fits all regulatory or supervisory
solution. Each country should establish its regulatory and
supervisory framework taking into account its priorities and
capacity constraints

5. ChoosingtheRight Role in
PromotingSavings
Key Lessons
• Only funders with the relevant internal capacity
should support savings mobilization
• Savings mobilisations is an internal component of
overarching goals (poverty allevation, access to
finance and building an inclusive financial system.)

ChoosingtheRight Role in
PromotingSavings.
Guidance for Funders
• Clear strategy that articulates the funder´s goal in supporting
savings mobilisation
• Expanding access to finance
• Building inclusive financial systems
• Reducing poverty
• Support savings mobilisations only if they have the adequate
expertise, systems and instruments
• Appropiate mix of funding instruments
• Grants
• Debt
• Equity

GRANTS
GRANTS Promoting savings is best suited with the
resources (typically grants) to support capacity building
and technical assistance over the medium and long term
Grant support should be
• time-limited,
• performance based, and
• disbursed against the grantees institution´s atainment of clearly
established performance tagets

DEBT
Can support but also hinder savings mobilisation
Debt financing should be nondistortive and
complementary to savings mobilisation
Debt providers can use their influence to promote
savings mobilisation with retail service providers

EQUITY
EQUTY
•Start up capital for greenfields
•Necessary in transformation
•Strategy and corporate governance
(oversight the governance and
management of the instituon

Guadalupe de la Mata
THANKS!!!
Time forQuestions and Comments